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Amidst an uproar over the Ruchika molestation issue, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Saturday said the entire case against former Director General of Police S P S Rathore should be revisited.
"After examining (the case) legally, I think it should be revisited. I am fully sympathising with the family (of Ruchika)," said Hooda.
Rathore has been sentenced to six months imprisonment for molesting 14-year-old Ruchika 19 years ago. Hooda's remarks came after Communist Party of India - Marxist politburo member Brinda Karat met him in New Delhi to demand an independent probe into the alleged political patronage Rathore enjoyed after being indicted in the case.
The Haryana chief minister said he had already given instructions to the DGP of the state to provide 'full security' to the family.
"Whatever steps Haryana government has to take after legal consultations, we will take," he said, pointing out that Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily has given an assurance that he would examine the case again.
Karat told reporters outside Hooda's residence that the chief minister was, however, 'non-committal' on the demand for a probe into the alleged political sheltering the former DGP received from successive governments.
Karat, accompanied by friends of Ruchika's family, also sought Hooda's 'pro-active role' in bringing pressure on the Central Bureau of Investigation to reopen the case against Rathore and to get his bail cancelled in the case.
Karat said she had also urged Hooda to initiate action to deny Rathore his pension benefits and dismiss police officers and government officials who filed false theft cases against Ruchika's brother Ashu.
She said Hooda assured her and Ruchika's friends that he would support reopening of the case against Rathore and inclusion of criminal sections such as abetment of the teenager's suicide after examining the case.
Karat was accompanied by Anand Prakash, a friend of Ruchika's family and a retired Haryana government employee, besides few human rights activists during her meeting with Hooda.